Tag Archives: 24 Hours Of Lemans

If you’ve been anxiously waiting, it’s almost here – the second season of Nissan GT Academy premieres on SPIKE TV at Thursday, November 1 at 11:30pm.

Nissan GT Academy selects 32 of the more than 400,000 top Gran Turismo video gamers, determined over 3 months of online PlayStation competition, to compete for a chance to train with professionals and become real a racecar driver. The 32 finalists meet and compete against each other over two more days of head-to-head virtual racing, after which half of them are sent packing and half move to the Final Selection Round.

The Final Selection Committee judges the remaining drivers on their mental toughness, physical fitness, and of course, driving skills. The driver determined to be the best is sent to a professional driver’s training program in the UK where they hit the track in practice racing events. At the completion of the course, the winner of the Academy makes his or her entrance in to the sport of professional racing in front of an international audience.

Previous GT Academy winners include Lucas Ordenez, who raced in 2009 FIA GT4 series, after which he won the series championship of the Intercontinental LeMans Cup and then proceeded to take second in his class at 24 Hours of LeMans. The second winner, Jordan Tresson, won the 24 Hours of Spa in 2011 and the Blancpain Endurance Series. Last year’s international winner, Jann Merdenborough, is racing a Nissan GT-R/NISMO GT-R in the Blancpain Endurance series this year. The first North American race in 2011 featured Brian Heitkotter driving a Nissan 370 NISMO in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.

The six-week SPIKE TV series will chronicle the elimination process of the Nissan GT Academy competition, hosted by Dhani Jones. Drivers will receive critiques and instruction from professional drivers Maryeve Dufault, Danny Sullivan and Boris Said. If you miss an episode, they will also be available on the Nissan YouTube Channel.

If you’re ready to make the move from the couch with your PlayStation and onto the street in your own new Nissan, visit Bates Nissan in Killeen, Texas today. While the streets around Austin hardly rival the world’s fastest race tracks, we can help you find the new Nissan that gives you the same excitement in your daily driving. You can also follow Bates Nissan on Facebook to keep up with the latest Nissan GT Academy news.